


Emergency Communications

by Lastwaterbender



Category: The Martian
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Lewis Ships them, Pre Rescue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-03
Updated: 2015-11-03
Packaged: 2018-04-29 17:12:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5135912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lastwaterbender/pseuds/Lastwaterbender
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An emergency back on Earth means some comfort for the Hermes Crew. Pre-Rescue</p>
            </blockquote>





	Emergency Communications

Title:  Emergency Communications

Author: LastWaterBender

Fandom: The Martian

Pairing: Johanbeck, Beth Johanssen/Christopher Beck

Rating: K

Summary: An emergency call turns Becks life around, Johanssen takes care of him.

This is post ‘Pissed Off,’ and the crew has decided to go back for Watney, but you don’t need to read it in order to follow. In my headcannon, Beck has an extremely close relationship with his parents.

You can read it here: <http://lastwaterbender.tumblr.com/post/131297191436/pissed-off>

 

Also accepting Johanbeck prompts :)

He had had a long day.

His scheduled EVA to prepare for the journey was supposed to take four hours between both him and Vogel. The bolts wouldn’t untighten and the fix wasn’t as easy as NASA had assumed it would be. It was nearing hour six when Lewis came over the comm.

“Beck.”

“Yes Commander?” He asked as he finally screwed one of the last screws. Vogel was finishing up the panel he was working on, stopped to look at him.

“You’ve got an emergency communication from Earth, are you in a spot that you can come back inside?” She asked, her voice masked something but he couldn’t figure out what. Emergency communications from Earth weren’t good, especially since he was due to be home much later than anticipated.

With a heavy sigh and a thumbs up from Vogel, who would stay out a little bit longer to do the systems check. “Be right there.” He answered and began the process to head back inside.

As he shut airlock one, he was greeted by Martinez who had arrived to help him take off his space suit. “Do you know what’s going on?” Beck asked, stripping down to his gym shorts and long sleeved blue shirt.

Martinez shook his head. “I’m not sure, but it’s freaked everybody out.” He answered worriedly. “I’ll stow this, you go on.” Beck nodded and floated down towards the work station with his insides turning. Something bad must have happened, his mind wandered towards the thousands of possibilities. Was his parents okay? What about his sister?

He slid down ladder to an empty work station, Johanssen and Lewis looked up from her Johanssen’s computer. He looked between them, the pit in his stomach getting deeper. “What’s going on?” He asked as Johanssen got up from her chair.

“We’re not sure exactly, but Vincent Kapoor just sent a transmission to get you on the line as soon as possible.” Lewis answered with a heavy breath, he gave his arm a soft squeeze as she headed towards the ladder. “Take your time, Chris.”

Johanssen got up from her chair so that he could occupy it, but he didn’t move. Johanssen crossed the small space towards him and for a moment stood in front of him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and he prayed that he would stay with her.

“I’ll be in the rec when you’re done.” She said against his chest, but he tightened his grip around her. “Or I can wait here with you.”

He nodded as the sound of the call being placed rang from behind them. He turned around to see the face of both of his parents on the screen, his hand dropped to hers as he moved to stand in front of the screen. “Mom? Dad?” He asked.

His dad, a normally very charismatic man was at a loss for words. His mom spoke up. “Hello Christopher.” She said hoarsely as she licked her lips. “I’m sorry to have to call to tell you this,” She looked at the small astronaut that was next to him unsure. “It’s kind of personal…”

He held his breath and Johanssen squeezed his hand, his mother was trying to politely get rid of her. “It’s okay, tell me what’s going on mom.” He started. “You remember Beth Johanssen.” It was possessive, he wasn’t going to let her go.

“It’s Jack.” His father started, talking about Chris’ oldest nephew, who was eight years old. His father’s strong reserve started to crumble. “There was an accident…”

His heart started to beat hard in his ears and he sat down in the chair before he fell. “He was camping with his friends when he got too close to the river.” His dad continued and a sob escaped his mother’s mouth. “They don’t know if he’s going to make it.”

Beck’s hand went to his mouth and tears stung his eyes, he stopped listening to what his dad was saying. It made him angry on the inside as a doctor because he was a billion miles away and there was nothing that he could do to help save him. As an uncle to a boy that he absolutely adored, it crushed him.

Johanssen wrapped her arms around his shoulder and he buried his face into her stomach for a moment before he turned to look at the screen. “When?”

“This morning.” His mother answered wiping her eyes. Johanssen tightened her grip on Beck’s hand.

“His friend’s father pulled him out of the water and started CPR on him until the paramedics arrived.” His father said.  “He’s in surgery right now, they…” A sob escaped his lips. “They think he was only under water for two minutes.”

Beck licked his lips and sat up straighter, guilt flooding through him. “How’s Amy?” He asked. Amy was his older sister, Jack’s mother. He wasn’t particularly close with his sister, but he adored her four children, even though he had barely met the twins before he left. She had married young and had chosen to be a stay at home mother, a choice that he wasn’t too keen about because she had finished graduate school as an acclaimed photographer with the dreams of working for National Geographic and instead stayed home, taking pictures of babies and whatnot.

His parents shared a look. “She’s a mess. Both she and Marcus are at the hospital, we have Brennan and the twins here.” His father answered. “I’m about to head back to the hospital to sit with them.”

Beck gave a heavy sigh, hunching his shoulder. “I wish there was something that I could do.” He said sadly, Johanssen wrapped her arms around his shoulder, burying her face into his back to lend him her strength. He grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. Her small body pressed to him was surprisingly intimate and he wasn’t bother that it was in front of his parents.

“You just stay safe, Chris.” His mother said, looking behind her for a moment before reaching down and plopping a small child into her lap.

Beck’s resolve started to fall as he extended his hand to the screen. “Can you said hi to Uncle Chris, Aspen?” She whispered to the toddler. The little girl looked into the screen and gave a wide smile, waving her hand happily.

“Hello Aspen.” Chris said waving to the girl, the little girl’s attention didn’t hold long as she wiggled to be put back on to the floor. “She’s gotten so big.” He wiped a tear that spilled down his cheek.

His mother nodded as there was a crash in the background and she got up to chase the sound. She came back into view for a moment to tell him that she loved him.

His dad shifted in the chair and grew that intense look that he was all too familiar with.  It was the look that he gave when he had to give a hard talk. “Listen son, I don’t want you feel guilty about not being here.” He started and his body tensed, until he felt her lips press to the back of his neck. “What you’re doing is uniting all of humanity and very important.”

He bit his lip forcing himself not to cry out, his gaze went to the floor and Johanssen moved to his side to rub his back comfortingly. “I’m right here, Chris.” She whispered to him and he rested his head against her, tucking himself under her chin.

“I’m sorry son for dropping this on you…”

He shook his head and looked back up to his father. “No, I needed to know.” He said with a shaky breath.

“We’ll keep you updated.” His father said. “We are really proud of you.”

“Thanks dad.” He responded softly, he could feel the headache building behind his eyes.

He dad looked over the woman who was holding his son up and smiled at her. “Thank you Beth, for being there for him.” She nodded and ruffled his hair playfully, he playfully nuzzled her collarbone. His dad looked at his watch. “We keep you updated. I love you, son.”

“I love you too, dad.” He said and his dad disconnected the call, leaving both him and Johanssen alone in the workstation. He turned in the chair so that she was standing in front of him, she stood between his legs and his arms wrapped tightly around her waist, his face buried into her stomach. She held him tightly around the shoulders and cradled his head against her.

He silently cried against her.

After a while he pulled back and looked up at her, red eyes and tear stains. She wiped away the tears and leaned down to press a kiss to his forehead. “Is there anything I can do?” She asked softly.

He shook his head. “You just being here.” He said, his voice tight. He stood up from the chair and took her hands in his. “I don’t know how … I just … thank you.”

A soft smile filled her face as she reached up to cup his cheek. “There is nowhere in the universe I would rather be.” She answered, standing up on her toes and kissing him softly on the lips. “That was stupid, don’t tell anybody I said that.”

He chuckled before pulling her into his arms again, burying his face into her neck. “I won’t tell anybody that I liked it.” He mumbled against her neck. She held him tightly and she’d stand there for as long as she needed to.

She heard someone slide down the ladder, he didn’t move as he took stabilizing breaths to calm himself. It was Commander Lewis, who looked mildly surprised and concerned at the same time. She could feel his hands tighten on the sweater at her waist, he was going to hide the fact that he had been crying.  Lewis was at a total loss as to what to say, obviously something bad had happened back on Earth from the looks of his 6 foot frame wrapped around Johanssen’s small 5’3” frame.

He really didn’t want to face her, telling her what happened would make it all real. “His nephew nearly drowned.” Johanssen said quietly and he released the breath that he was holding, thankful that she was being his rock at the moment. “He’s in surgery and they don’t know his condition yet.”

He could imagine the Commander’s face falling, he felt her hand on his back. “I’m so sorry, Chris.”

“Thank you.” He said from Johanssen’s shoulder.

Johanssen pushed back for a moment to look at him. “Take as much time as you need.” Lewis said softly, squeezing his shoulder.

He nodded his thanks, his eyes still on Johanssen unsure of what to do now. “Come on, go lay down and I will get you something for that headache.” She said tenderly and he nodded, obeying her instructions and walking to the ladder. With one more look and an encouraging look from Johanssen, he took the ladder towards the zero gravity.

Johanssen looked at Lewis. “Is he okay?” Lewis asked the youngest one on her team.

She bit her lip. “He feels guilty because there is nothing that he can do.” She answered softly. Lewis nodded with a heavy sigh. “He’s supposed to get an update in a few hours.”

“I will keep an eye out for it and let you know.” Lewis said and Johanssen nodded in understanding.

Johanssen turned to leave. “What time is our debriefing?” She asked, she looked at the clock on the wall. Usually the debrief happened around seven or so, that would give them three hours to nap and shake off his headache.

“Don’t worry about debriefing, you just take care of our boy.” Melissa said softly.

Johanssen smiled, a blush caressing her cheeks and quickly climbed the ladder to head to the rec room for supplies.

/

Beck was glad that he didn’t run into Vogel or Martinez on his way to his room. He didn’t even bother to turn the light on, his head was pounding badly as he stripped of his sweaty long sleeved shirt. Dehydration, stress and crying only made things worse.

He crawled into bed, burying his face into his pillow and took a shuddering breath.

He didn’t regret his decision to return to Mars, his only regret was that he couldn’t be there to help his family.

The door opened, but he didn’t move as he could hear her soft footsteps towards him. She turned on the dim lights so that she could see, setting down some supplies onto his bedside table. “Here.” She said and he lifted his head, holding his hand out for her to place the tablets in. He tossed them back and took the water pouch from her to drink.

He downed the water pouch in three large sips, not realizing just how thirsty he was. “Thanks.” He mumbled, laying his face back down onto the pillow and looking at her. She sat down on the bed next to him, rubbing her hand up and down his arm.

“Are you hungry?” She asked, cocking her head to the side doing a visual head to toe assessment of him.

He shook his head, knowing that he was acting childish. “I think I want to sleep for the next hundred years.” He muttered.

She smiled softly, her hand leaving his arm to his back and immediately finding a knot in his shoulder. He hissed into the pillow and he was about to tell her not to worry about it, but she straddled his hips and began to work out the knots in his back. “I’m not a doctor, but I’ve noticed that you carry your stress in your shoulders.” She said quietly as she rubbed a particularly big one in his neck.

“You don’t have too…” He mumbled.

She leaned over, pressing her thumb into his back. “Let me take care of you.” She whispered, pressing a kiss to the base of his neck. His skin erupted in goosebumps and if it were any other situation, she would’ve exploited it. “You’re so tense, it’s a wonder how you can stand up.”

He didn’t say anything as her hands mapped his back, digging out the knots and switching it up with raking her nails against his skin. After a few minutes, his breathing evened out and she was sure that he had fallen asleep.

She continued to press out the knots until there were no more and as she finished, he reached behind him and pulled her to lay down next to him. She settled under his arm and they shared a pillow, noses touching. “I might take you up on that again.” He said.

“Any time.” She said before going somber. “I’m sorry about your nephew, I really do hope he’s okay.”

“I hope so too.” He sighed. “I feel so useless.”

She frowned. “You are not useless, Chris.” She chided. “Your father was right about what he said, what you’re doing…. We’re doing, is bigger than all of us and it’s what the world needs right now. I think it’s what your family needs right now.”

He felt tears well up in his eyes again, instead he sat up slightly and pressed his lips to hers. She responded in kind, allowing him to deepen the kiss to grieve for his nephew, for his family. The kissing thing had been a new thing for them, their relationship had still been undefined.

When he slowly broke away, be brought his hand up to cup her cheek. “I don’t know what I would do without you, Beth.” He whispered softly.

“Well for the next five hundred and twenty five days, I’m not going anywhere.” She said with a smile.

He smiled. “Good.” He answered before pulling her closer and burying his face into her neck, sighing deeply, knowing full well that they would get into trouble if they were caught and he didn’t care. Almost instantly, he had fallen asleep practically on top of her.

/

Lewis sat at her computer, flipping through the Rich Pernell papers and lazily memorizing the details to keep her mind occupied. She had dismissed Vogel and Martinez not long after Beck went to bed, there was no use trying to accomplish stuff when half the crew was indisposed.

She ran her hand through her hair and sighed. She hoped that Beck’s nephew was alright, she didn’t want to imagine what he would be feeling if the young boy died. He already looked so heart broken, but it was a good thing that Johanssen had stepped in to keep him from spiraling into depression.

The computer beeped and she pressed the mail icon in the computer. It was late back home and she hoped that it was an update on the boy. She pressed the icon to acknowledge that she was the one receiving the message.

_NASA: Good evening, Commander Lewis. It’s Mindy Park from Sat. Com._

_HMS: It’s late back there._

_NASA: I just don’t sleep anymore, you never know what kind of trouble Watney might get into. Watney is fine, but I am reporting an update on Beck’s family._

Her stomach tied into a knot and she suddenly felt sick to her stomach. It was the call that she was waiting for.

_HMS: Beck is asleep, I will go get him._

_NASA:_ _It’s okay, his family knows that it’s late and figured that he was going to be. Senator Beck said to tell Beck that his nephew came out of surgery just fine, he is breathing on his own and has woken up. His family has made arrangements to call him around 0700 EST. If you don’t mind passing that on to him._

_HMS: Of course, thank you. Lewis out._

She sighed heavily, the nausea fading quickly as she jumped to her feet and turned off her computer before making the trek to Beck’s room feeling lighter.

As she stopped outside his door, she stopped for a moment to prepare herself for the fact that Johanssen was probably in there with him, probably asleep. Who know what state of dress they would be in? Melissa Lewis wasn’t stupid, she knew that there had been some sort of shift in their relationship since Mark had been lost on Mars.

She also knew that she should put an end to it, but she found that she didn’t really care and right now she was too tired to put any thought into it.

Slowly the door opened and she turned on the dim lights with abated breath. It released as she saw him laying shirtless on his stomach, his face turned into Johanssen’s neck. She was practically underneath him, his heavy arm pinning her to the bed.

Lewis tiptoed closer to them to realize that Johanssen was awake, but hadn’t moved. “Hey.” She whispered, Beck’s hand flexed against her pulling her closer to him.

“Mission Control just messaged us.” Lewis whispered, reaching for the blanket that had fallen to the floor and covering the pair with it. “Senator Beck reported that his nephew’s surgery was a success and that he is awake and breathing on his own.”

Johanssen bit her lip as she released the breath she was holding, a tear escaped her eye. “Thank god.” She sighed heavily.

“His family has scheduled a call for 0700 tomorrow morning.” Lewis whispered. She nodded and looked down at the sleeping man, unsure what to do. Lewis smiled to herself. “I will see you in the morning.”

“Goodnight.” She answered softly as Lewis wished her a goodnight and disappeared through the door. She looked at the sleeping doctor and ran a hand through his hair. “Chris.”

He stirred softly. “Mmm?” He responded tiredly, but didn’t move from her neck. She waited for him to wake up a little more, he pushed himself up slightly to look down at her. “Beth?”

Her hand went to cup his cheek. “Commander Lewis was just here. Mission Control just passed on a message from you father.” She said and she waited for him to comprehend what she had said, quickly he woke up. “Your nephew’s surgery was successful, he’s awake and breathing on his own.”

A thousand emotions crossed his face and ending in relief. “Thank god.” He said collapsing back on top of her gently and she held him tightly. He breathed in and out deeply a couple of times before he pushed himself back up. It was his turn to run his hands through her hair as he smiled down tenderly at her. “Thank you.”

She nuzzled his hand and kissed his wrist. “Your father will call with an update in the morning.” She said.

He leaned down to kiss her, it was filled with relief. He laid back down, cuddling her closer to her. “Is Commander Lewis angry?” He asked after a few minutes of silence. She turned her head to look at him in confusion. “About this?”

She squished up her nose, she hadn’t thought about it when Commander Lewis was in the room. What they were doing was definitely against the fraternization policy. “She didn’t say anything about it.” She answered honestly. “She was the one who picked up the blanket off the floor.”

He exhaled forcefully, it wasn’t a bad thing. “She isn’t making you leave?” He asked.

She shook her head. “If she thinks I’m leaving you right now, she’s sadly mistaken.” She answered teasingly, knowing full well that the commander would not make her leave the grieving doctor’s bedside.

“My little rebel.” He whispered before kissing her again, clearly feeing a lot better than he had all day. His kisses were lazy and slow, drawing out every feeling that he had felt in the last few hours. She was more than happy to comply, until she was over taken by a yawn.

He buried his face into her neck again. “I’m not smashing you, am I?” He asked.

“Not at all.” She whispered as she raked her fingers through his hair. Beck drew a shuddering breath and his skin erupted in goosebumps again.

“Thank you.” He said heavily as his breath evened out and immediately he had fallen back to sleep.

She laid there for a while, running her nails across his back lazily. It was a well-known fact that Beth Johanssen wasn’t much of a sleeper because she had about a million better things to do, but right now she felt content to just lie there with him. His hand flexed again, this time finding the skin under her sweatshirt and it was her turn to shiver.

It wasn’t long until she allowed herself to fall asleep.

/

His body’s internal clock woke him up early.

When he opened his eyes, he realized that he was still practically laying on top of Johanssen. He had realized that he had never seen her asleep before, it was endearing really because he was sure if she wasn’t hopped up on caffeine and bouncing a little, she would die.

But here she was, laying on her back underneath his arms with her face towards him. In all honesty, she looked like she was eighteen. The usual dark bags that sat under her eyes were practically nonexistent and the small wrinkle that appeared when she was decoding something rather tricky was smooth.

She sighed in her sleep and bit her lip and he decided that he could get used to this.

He carefully rolled off of her, not before pressing his lips to her forehead. He got up and pulled the blanket up over her body, she rolled to her side and pulled the blanket tightly around her but didn’t wake up.

Quickly he dressed in his favorite gray sweater and sweats, brushed his teeth and quietly shut the door behind him. He made his way to the rec room to grab a cup of coffee and a pastry before his video call from earth.

As he slid down the ladder, he realized that he wasn’t the only one awake. Commander Lewis sat at the table with her tablet in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. “Good morning.” She said.

“Morning.” He said, stopping at the coffee machine to pour his cup. While it filled, he searched the cabinet for the pastry before joining the commander at the table.

“How are you feeling this morning?” She asked softly, setting down her tablet to give him her full attention.

He nodded. “Better, now that I know that my nephew is awake and breathing on his own.” He answered taking a sip of the hot liquid. “Slept better than I have in a long time too.” That part had slipped.

“Yeah, I bet you did.” She teased with a chuckle and a flush crossed his cheeks as he choked on the coffee he was sipping. He coughed forcefully, there was no way to recover gracefully and Lewis gave him a smile. This was the closest to her approval he was sure he was going to get. She pulled her sleeve up to look at her watch. “You better finish that, your father is about to call.”

He nodded, stuffing the rest of the pastry in his mouth before placing his mug in the sink. He finished the food in his mouth and stopped at the ladder. “Hey Melissa?” She looked up, it was rare that any of them called her by her first name. “Thank you, for last night.”

She smiled. “No problem Chris. I’m glad your nephew is okay.”

He returned the smile and climbed up the ladder to the lab.

As he sat down in Johanssen’s chair, the computer beeped as someone from NASA was trying to message them.

_NASA: We have a transmission for Christopher Beck_

_HRM: This is Beck, patch them through._

A few seconds later the screen revealed his dad on the screen, he looked tired but happy. “Hey Christopher.” He said.

“Hi dad.” He responded, it was still dark outside the window behind his father.

“I apologizing for not calling you last night…” He started before he was interrupted by his son.

“No, don’t worry about it. It was a long day for everybody, I got your message though.” He said softly.

His dad nodded and ran his hand through his graying hair. “I’m glad. Jack came out of surgery last night around eight and by the time we were able to see him it was nearing ten. He woke up around ten thirty like nothing had ever happened.” His dad explained. “He was more upset that we didn’t bring his astronaut bear that you gave him.”

A sigh escaped Beck’s lips and he wiped his wet eyes. “I’m glad that he’s alright.” He said with a soft laugh.

“The paramedics reported that he had started breathing on his own on the way to the hospital and the doctors say his oxygen stats are getting better and that they should be able to release him tomorrow.” His dad reported.

Beck squinted. “What was the surgery for then?”

“I think it had something to do with the broken leg.” He father said and Beck sighed, it wasn’t his fault that he didn’t get all the information. He wish he could read over the chart to see what exactly had happened to his nephew, but for now he could rest knowing that his eight year old nephew was going to be okay. “He’s bummed out that he won’t be playing soccer this summer. He sounds just like you, you know that summer you broke your arm and couldn’t go to summer camp.”

Chris laughed, feeling lighter than he had since last night. His hand ran through his hair as he set up straighter. “Thanks for letting me know, dad.”

His dad smiled tiredly. “No Beth this morning?” He was teasing him.

Beck rubbed the back of his neck, he knew where this was going. “No, she’s still asleep. She’s not really a morning person.” He answered.

“Are you and her a … ?” His father asked with a crooked smile and his son bit his lip, nodding to allow him to come to his own conclusion. It was big, him admitting that there was a change in their relationship.  “Think she’s the one?”

Without hesitation he nodded. “I think so.” He answered.

His dad’s crooked smiled shined with pride. “Good for you son.” He said. “She’s good for you, I think.”

“Thanks dad.” He responded. “Do you mind keeping this between us for now? It’s still rather new and I would rather not come home to a wedding before I have a chance to ask her.”

“Understood. This stays between us.” His father said, he was grateful for his relationship with his dad. They had always been close and his dad had supported his endeavors to become a doctor and then an astronaut. He was the one to console his mother when they had extended their trip. “I’m proud of you.” His father looked up and over the camera at what was probably his mother. “Yeah, I got him on the line right now if you want to come say hi to him.” He looked at the screen again. “I love you, son.”

His mother came on to the screen wearing her bathrobe and a towel in her hair. “Good morning Christopher!” She said brightly, his dad got up and she took his seat. “How are you doing this morning?”

“Much better now that Jack is doing better.” He answered, he was fantastic actually but now wasn’t the time to tell his mother about Beth. Once she found out, the entire world would find out, which wasn’t a bad thing but just not yet. They still had to save Mark before they made the ten month journey back and that is if everything went smoothly.

“That boy is a clone of you, I swear.” His mother said, rolling her eyes. “He’s more upset about not being able to play soccer than you know, nearly dying. I’m going back to the hospital to bring him the astronaut bear and hopefully he’ll sit still long enough for him to be able to be released tomorrow.”

“He’s eight mom.” Beck said with a smile, he looked up as he heard someone slide down the ladder. It was Johanssen with her zip down gray hoodie and black pants, her hair pulled up in a tight ponytail at the back of her head. She had her mug of coffee in her hand, she looked refreshed. “Chris?”

He shook his head. “Sorry mom, you were saying?” He apologized and his mom continued her story about his sister. “Listen mom, I’ve got to go.”

“Of course dear, I’ve got to finish getting ready.”His mother said, not realizing that he was blowing her off. “I love you, take care!”

“I love you too mom, keep me updated about Jack.” He said as he disconnected the call.

Johanssen walked over to him with her arms folded tightly around herself after setting her cup down on the table, she was always cold in the morning. “Hey.”

“Hey.” He said, turning the chair to face her and leaned back to look at her, his hands lacing behind his head.

“Good news?” She asked standing between his knees.

He nodded. “To quote my mother, ‘he was more upset that he won’t be playing soccer this summer than nearly dying.’ He’s doing okay, he broke his leg.” He hated sounding so laymen about it and she knew it, she reached out her hand to run her fingers through his hair, spiking it into place.

“I’m glad that he’s doing okay.” She said, his hands went her waist. “How are you parents doing?”

He shrugged. “They seem okay, tired but okay.” He said. “Mom had the kids and dad spent the night in the hospital with Amy.”

Her hands went up to his cheeks and she leaned down to kiss him. “Good morning.” She whispered. “I missed you this morning.”

“You looked comfortable, I didn’t want to wake you.” He whispered, pulling her down for one more kiss and allowed himself to linger at her lips. “But it’s something I could get used to, you know, waking up next to you.”

She smiled as she stood back up. “You’re such a sap.” She chuckled softly and took a step away from him when someone slid down the ladder. She walked back to the table to grab her coffee and he got up from her work station to his, he needed to start his report from yesterday’s EVA.

It was Vogel who had come down the ladder. “Is everything okay?” He asked Beck.

Beck nodded. “Yeah, everything is good. My nephew is doing great.” He answered. “I’m sorry for leaving you out there.”

Vogel shrugged. “It’s okay, we were nearly finished anyway.” He responded in his neutral tone. “I’m glad that your nephew is okay, I don’t want to imagine the feeling.”

“Thanks.” He said sincerely, soon Lewis and Martinez joined them.

Martinez patted him on the shoulder. “You okay, bro?” He asked.

Beck nodded. “All good, thanks.” Beck answered.

“You had us all worried.” He answered before starting his routine systems check.

Lewis patted him on the shoulder as she passed him to her station and they all worked in silence. Beck looked around the room and smiled to himself, he loved these guys. They all were worried about him last night and he knew if the worse had happened that they would have taken care of him in their own ways.

His gaze fell on to Johanssen, who read over the computer screen and typed furiously on the keyboard. He wasn’t one hundred percent sure what she was doing, but she looked beautiful. He mentally curse himself when he shook his head and realized that he was caught watching her by Lewis, who was watching him. He shook his head and smiled to himself as he finished his paperwork, yeah he was in love with Beth Johanssen.


End file.
